Nadine Dorries: 'I Have Never Met Nigel Farage'

Nadine Dorries, the Conservative backbencher who recently attacked David Cameron and George Osborne as "arrogant posh boys", has sought to play down suggestions that she might defect to the UK Independence Party.

"I can absolutely tell you 100% i have never met or spoken to [UKIP leader] Nigel Farage in my life" she said.

Dorries has caused controversy recently for attacking the coalition. She said the prime minister and chancellor had "no passion to want to understand the lives of others".

Speaking to the BBC this morning, she said that her words were "felt and thought by a number of backbenchers".

"There are a very elite clique who operate around Mr Cameron, who describes himself as a social liberal. I don't think there's a Conservative councillor in the land who describes themselves as a social liberal. We are Conservatives.

She added "It is a problem that he describes himself as a social liberal"

Dorries could lose her seat at the next election due to boundary changes, but she dismissed the idea that this has lead her to attack the prime minister.

"We don't know if I am losing my seat at this election," she said. "We don't even know if my seat is going to go. I have been a Conservative for a very long time."